The decision to develop a Mk-2 version of Tejas LCA was taken in September 2008, when it became clear that the Kaveri engine would not be ready in time for the Tejas, which would have to be inducted into service with its current lower thrust GE-F404 engine.

The GE-F404 powered Tejas doesn't meet IAF requirements, so a followup version of the Tejas is being developed with a more powerful engine. Ironically, LCA Tejas Mk-2 will be the LCA that the IAF sought to begin with.

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Procurement of New Engine

ADA is procuring 99 GE-F414-INS6 engines to power the Tejas Mk-2 and LCA Navy. The contract has been finalized and is awaiting approval.

Under the contract, the first lot of the engines will come by 2014-15 and the rest would be manufactured in India under transfer of technology [agreements].

In July 2012, Defense sources told the PTI that India and the US are close to signing the $600 million contract for 99 engines, with options to order an additional 100 under the negotiated terms.

In May 2012, ADA Chief Pâ€ˆSâ€ˆSubrahmanya told the press that a contract would be signed with General Electric as soon as the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared the deal.

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Procurement History

The Price Negotiation Committee (PNC), set up in late 2010 comprising representatives from the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Navy, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), HAL, ADA and the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) finalized the deal after 15 months of negotiation with GE and the US government.

Procurement of a more powerful engine to power Tejas Mk-2 started when ADA issued a RFP for the supply of engines with thrust in the 95-100 KN to power Tejas LCA Mk 2.

The RFP indicated an initial procurement of 99 engines with an optional follow-up for 49 more. The initial batch of engines would be procured directly from the manufacturer with the rest being assembled at HAL.

The RFP was sent to just two contenders: General Electric (GE) for the F414 engine and Eurojet for the EJ200 engine. The two countries submitted their proposals on December 11, 2009, a day ahead of the deadline on December 12.

DROD said it would pick the engine that requires minimum re-engineering and minimum acquisition + operating costs.

DRDO had concerns about the EJ200's ability to withstand the corrosive salt-water naval environment and about F414's limited thrust without reheat, as also any export control restrictions that come bundled with it.

There were reports that Eurojet proposed a thrust vectoring version of the EJ200 for the Tejas.

In June 2010, The Hindu reported that the EJ200 engine being offered by Eurojet could meet the differing requirements of the IAF and Indian Navy through a software change.

â€œWe are offering two variants of the EJ200, bidding for the India's LCA Mark-II which can be altered through a software change to suit the requirements for the naval version of the LCA,â€ Eurojet Vice-President Sales Paul Hermann told a group of journalists here.

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Evaluation of Bids

The initial bids were opened in mid-September 2010. Eurojet bid $666 million and GE $822 million.

The GE's F-414 and Eurojet's EJ-200--were found technically suitable for the aircraft.

The DRDO announced on September 30, 2010 that the Price Negotiating Committee for the Alternate Engine for LCA Mk-2 has finalized the Comparative Statement of Tenders.

The committee was chaired by Dr Prahlada, DS & CCR&D (Ae&SI) and had representatives from Ministries of Defense and Defense Finance, ADA, DRDO, HAL, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy.

The commercial quotes provided by both Eurojet and GE Aviation were evaluated in detail by a defence ministry price negotiating committee, after which GE Aviation was declared the winner, the paper said.

The Euroject bid was rejected despite its lower price because it did not include a lot of expenses.

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GE F414-GE-INS6 Variant

Commenting on India's selection of the GE F414 as Tejas Mk-2 powerplant, John Flannery, President & CEO, GE India told the press on October 1, 2010.

"GE Aviation will supply the initial batch of F414-GE-INS6 engines and the rest will be manufactured in India under transfer of technology arrangement."

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Contract Negotiations with GE

Following the selection of the GE bid, India held protracted negotiations with the company. There were two sticking points.

1. GE wanted India to sign the deal with one of its subsidiaries.
2. GE wanted India to agree to pay liabilities in case the IAFâ€ˆused the engine to power aircraft carrying nuclear weapons and one of these aircraft crashed in Pakistan!

India countered by saying that GE had bid for the deal, not any of its subsidiary. It also convinced GE to drop the liability clause.

On February 11, 2012 the Deccan Herald reported that on January 22, 2012, the MOD decided to go ahead with the contract.

Once the the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approves the MOD decision, the contract would be finalized.

Under the contract, GE would ship 18 engines with the remaining being manufactured in India by HAL. In addition, GE would help India integrate the engine with the LCA airframe.

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GE F414 Features

GE had delivered more than 1,000 F414 engines worldwide and logged 1 million flight hours.

The engine features FADEC and single engine safety features.

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Minor Modifications to Tejas Airframe

ADA and HAL will need to make a few small slight to the Tejas airframe to make the new engine fit.

â€œIt meets all the performance requirements of Tejas, like the rate of turn and thrust in all modes,â€ a source told AW&ST. â€œThe first lot of the engines will come by 2014-15 and the rest would be manufactured in India under transfer of technology [agreements]. The first lot of engines would undergo some simple tests and minute modifications before they are fitted to Tejas Mk-II ... The GE F414 would also power the LCA naval variant.

In November 2010, AW&ST reported that an ADA team has initiated studies on the Mk.2's proposed operational envelope, fluid dynamics studies of new components and analysis of new engine components. The team is also producing fresh numerical master geometry and inboard drawings, a new digital mock-up of the entire Mk.2, and a wind tunnel model in collaboration with the National Aerospace Laboratory.

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Tejas Mk2 First Flight

The Tejas Mk.2 is scheduled to make its first flight in 2014, with full-rate production to follow two years later.

Vendor selection by the Bengaluru-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in consultation with the Indian Air Force (IAF) for supplying various critical sub-systems of imported origin for the Tejas Mk2 multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA), which has been delayed by almost one-and-a-half years, is now expected to be concluded by next March. By then, the IAF would recommend the vendor for supplying the integrated fire-control system (including an infra-red search-and-track sensor, or IRST, integrated with an AESA-based multi-mode radar, or MMR), and a frameless canopy actuation system.

Choice of the optimum combination of air combat missiles (both within-visual-range and beyond-visual-range) will be totally dependent on which fire-control system is finally selected, with the principal contenders being Raytheon and MBDA (AIM-132 ASRAAM/AIM-120C AMRAAM), RAFAEL of Israel (Python-5/Derby), MBDA (MICA family) and Russiaâ€™s Vympel JSC (RVV-MD/RVV-SD combination), which IAI/ELTA Systems will likely propose in case the Python-5/Derby solution is rejected by the IAF.

Both the IAF and Indian Navy have also recommended that the projected cockpit of the Tejas Mk2 should offer a range of new and enhanced features such as a centric, modular concept of operation, enabling pilots to control and personalize the displays, applications and information sources.

Will the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) being developed in India be equipped with an advanced radar system developed in Israel? The chances for that have increased in the recent days. Sources in India have informed that the Indian Air Force which is acquiring the LCA is interested in having it equipped with an AESA radar. Such a radar has been developed and is being produced by Elta, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, which is considered among the most advanced of its kind throughout the world.

The 2nd prototype is expected to take flight only next year. The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) at Indiaâ€™s Ministry of Defense is developing an electronic scanning radar, but the Indian sources said that the developers will need foreign assistance. The aircraft is equipped with a US engine after the engine developed for it in India did not provide the necessary thrust. At this stage, India ordered 200 LCA MK2 aircraft - the advanced version of the aircraft - from the Indian defense industry.

AESA radars are considered the most advanced radars for jet fighters, and they improve the aircraftâ€™s ability to detect aerial targets. In the past, the Ministry of Defense has prevented Elta from offering the new radar for export, but this was changed since several manufacturers, including US manufacturers, are offering them around the world.

According to the sources, the close military procurement relations between Israel and India allow for a good possibility of cooperation in developing the Indian radar that will be installed on the LCA.

On asking whether the indigenously developed AESA radar could also be integrated with the indigenous light combat aircraft Tejas , Saraswat said, â€œ The work is already on and the Tejas Mark-2 will have nothing but the AESA radar. In fact recently when I was in our lab LRDE, they showed me 1/8 size of RA which is already operational in the same frequency band delivering certain amount of power with the TR (Transmitter & Receiver) modules. The work on the development of AESA for LCA is on.â€

The DRDO developed AESA radar will be of same size and volume of the present radar integrated on Tejas Mark-1. Once the work starts for the Mark-2 of Tejas aircraft, the old radar will be simply replaced by the indigenous AESA radar.

â€œNow we can configure small as well as large AESA radar. The advantage of AESA is that as you increase the numbers of TR modules, the more power you get,â€ said Dr, Saraswat.

It is claimed that the Indian AESA radar can be compared with the best in the world in terms of resolution, performance and electronic warfare capability. The basic element of AESA radar which are the TR modules are being produced today by Bharat Electronics and other private industries in India.

The indigenous Tejas Mark II Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) will enter Indian Air Force (IAF) service by 2018 as a state-of-the-art fighter that is significantly more advanced than the current Tejas Mark I, says the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which runs the Rs 14,047 crore LCA programme.

ADAâ€™s director, PS Subramanyam, divulged to Business Standard the improvements being made to the existing Tejas Mark I, which the IAF will begin flying next year. The Mark I is a capable fighter, says Subramanyam, but it incorporates many technologies of the preceding decade, some of which --- especially avionics --- would be outdated by 2018 when the IAF gets the Mark II.

The pipeline of improvements includes indigenous Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar; interfaces for mounting the worldâ€™s most advanced air-to-air missiles; a revolutionary onboard oxygen-generating system; an advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) suite to confuse enemy radars and sensors; greater fuel capacity to increase its range; a retractable mid-air refuelling system; and revolutionary actuators that only the most advanced US fighters currently have.

â€œAvionics technologies have a generation span of just 5-7 years. The Tejas currently incorporates technologies from 2005 and later. For the Tejas Mark II in 2018, we will have a generational leap to more futuristic electronics,â€ says Subramanyam.

The ADA chief says these systems will be developed and tested over the next five years, while ADA re-engineers the Tejas to accommodate the bulkier and heavier General Electric F-414 engine that will power the Tejas Mark II. Subramanyam reveals that ADA is choosing a foreign partner to advise in fitting the new engine.

â€œWe will work with a foreign consultant in order to avoid the mistakes that other aerospace designers have earlier made. We are talking to Saab (of Sweden), to Cassidian (the European consortium) and to other vendors. We should have a decision by mid-2013,â€ says Subramanyam.

ADA is evaluating the new avionics on the first Tejas prototype, designated PV-1, which is now too old for the flight-trial programme and will be used hereafter to test new systems. First up is a new Electronic Warfare system, designed by the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) laboratory, Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), which senses enemy radar signals and jams them effectively, making the Tejas hard to detect.

Next up for testing is a sophisticated on-board oxygen generating system, developed by the DRDOâ€™s Defence Bioengineering and Electro-medical Laboratory (DEBEL), which continuously collects atmospheric oxygen and supplies it to the pilot. Today, the capacity of the oxygen bottles that contemporary fighters carry limit mission times; when oxygen runs low, the pilot heads back to base. Now, the on-board oxygen generating system, along with mid-air refuelling and the Tejas Mark IIâ€™s increased fuel load, will allow 3-4 hours of continuous flying, more than most fighters in the world.

During these lengthy combat missions, the Tejas Mark II pilot will benefit from a friendlier cockpit display. While the Mark I already has an all-glass cockpit (i.e. with digital TV-screen-type displays instead of the old analogue dials), the Mark II will have larger, user-friendly screens that reduce pilot fatigue.

Improved avionics will also include a sophisticated Inertial Navigation System (INS), developed by the DRDOâ€™s Research Centre, Imarat (RCI). So far the Tejas has used an imported INS.

â€œThis INS would be used in the navigation-attack system that is being tailor-made for the LCA,â€ says Subramanyam. A navigation-attack system navigates the fighter precisely to an enemy target, even in pitch darkness. The DRDO has earlier built a series of such systems for the IAFâ€™s fleet of Jaguar strike aircraft.

The biggest game-changer, one that would make the Tejas a truly formidable multi-role fighter, could be the ongoing project to develop an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. This advanced radar, which only US companies have truly mastered, is being developed for the Tejas by the DRDO laboratory, Electronics Research & Development Establishment (LRDE).

â€œWhether or not AESA radar is developed in time for the first Tejas Mark II, this radar will be retrofitted onto these fighters as soon as it is certified,â€ says the ADA chief.

The Tejas Mark II is also being configured to fire any advanced weaponry that the IAF acquires, e.g. any long-range air-to-air missiles (LRAAMs) that may be acquired along with the ongoing purchase of 126 Dassault Rafale fighters. The DRDO is developing an indigenous air-to-air missile, the Astra, but that is some way off from completion.

The production of 20 Tejas Mark I fighters ordered by the IAF is under way in HAL. This will be followed by another order for 20 more Tejas Mark I, once the fighter obtains final operational clearance, expected in 2015. While HAL is running well behind its objective of building 8 Tejas per year, the target for completion of these 40 fighters remains 2017. After that, the production of Tejas Mark II will begin, subject to successful flight-testing.

The development of an AESA radar for the Tejas is expected to begin pending the selection of an developmental partner.The contenders for the contract are the European Consortium EADS and the Israeli company Elta.The initial contract will see the co-development of 10 prototypes.

Next up for testing is a sophisticated on-board oxygen generating system, developed by the DRDOâ€™s Defence Bioengineering and Electro-medical Laboratory (DEBEL), which continuously collects atmospheric oxygen and supplies it to the pilot. Today, the capacity of the oxygen bottles that contemporary fighters carry limit mission times; when oxygen runs low, the pilot heads back to base. Now, the on-board oxygen generating system, along with mid-air refuelling and the Tejas Mark IIâ€™s increased fuel load, will allow 3-4 hours of continuous flying, more than most fighters in the world.
This IMO is groundbreaking

The Tejas Mark II is also being configured to fire any advanced weaponry that the IAF acquires, e.g. any long-range air-to-air missiles (LRAAMs) that may be acquired along with the ongoing purchase of 126 Dassault Rafale fighters. The DRDO is developing an indigenous air-to-air missile, the Astra, but that is some way off from completion.

For it's primary air to air role, mk-2 will be loaded with air to air missiles and no heavy ground bombs .
SO this fuel load will come in handy for a longer loiter time and greater range in air to air mode.
So this will push mk-2 into medium weight fighter category's operational capability ,from the present light weight operational capabilities of mk-1.

If asea is radar is added in upgrades along with meteor missiles(ADA chief says it will have the operational interface to launch any long range BVr missiles that will enter into IAF through MMRCA competition, so it can only be meteor.Rafale's primary Long range missile is meteor.) it will be one of the best 4.5th gen fighters with capability to fire one of the most modern long range BVRs with latest generation ASEA radar which will be discreet and hard to jam.

In the south asian context and china border this will be one of the deadliest combination of radars and missiles with lowest possible radar cross section besides the 5th gen.

When we consider the himalayan border region the low flying tejas in this combination will be even harder to detect if it flies in predetermined flight paths ,hugging high mountain ranges.

Tejas fighter jet won't be combat-ready before 2015 - Times Of India
the above article is a classic example of reporting that don't highlight the milestones or what has been achieved in tejas program .
What is missing in this piece is
1.funding for TDs released only in 1993.
Only two TDs were built and flew to prove the fly by wire tech and composites and glass cockpit tech as per the 1983 ASR of 1.5 mach top speed at service ceiling,with 4 ton weapon pylon load with an air inlet corresponding to 80 kn thrust engine.

After that the IAF received longer range BVrs with higher weight from Russia.So accordingly wings were strengthened leading to extra weight in 2004 and the Pvs( for mk-1)meaning the start of development of mk-1 initiated in 2004 only.

That is the reason for mach 1.6 top speed at 7 km altitude till LSP-6 .Lsp-7 and 8 and SPs will have inlet modification to cater to higher thrust engine.

Mk-2 with 5 ton weapon load with increased range and higher thrust to weight ratio with mach 2plus top speeds at service ceiling will roll out in 2015.

Even mk-1s can be upgraded close to mk-2 status in upgrades with higher powered engine and redesigned air intake.

Auxillary air intakes are clearly visible in the above photos designed for higher airflow to reach higher topspeeds with higher thrust engines.
So tejas mk-1 won't be stuck at mach 1.6 with lower powered engine and smaller air intake designed for the 1.5 mach top speed of 1983 ASR forever.